2003 O'Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
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The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain (I did not taste the Mt. Veeder cuvee, which is normally the wine that blows me away) is a blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and small dollops of Petit Verdot and Malbec aged 20 months in new French oak. It is no wimpish wine, having achieved 14.8% natural alcohol. Gorgeous raspberry, brambleberry and mulberry notes suggest high-elevation, wild, briary mountain fruit. The color is a healthy dark ruby/purple and the wine reveals an attractive spicy, damp forest characteristic that adds to the complexity of this full-bodied, rich, mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. With sweet, velvety tannin and good opulence as well as freshness, it is drinkable now, but has such impressive stuffing that there is no denying its ability to last for another 15+ years. I have long been a fan of this winery, which is better known for selling much of its fruit to other wineries. However, Betty O-Shaughnessy saves some of the most impressive lots for her own bottlings. Tel. (707) 965-2898; Fax (707) 965-3010
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Robert Parker
Robert Parker
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The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain has a big, sweet nose of chocolate, blueberry, black raspberry, and currants with some crushed rock and a hint of toasty oak. The wine is long, rich, pure, and impressively endowed, but strikingly elegant and complex. It is already drinking well and should age nicely for 10-15 or more years. The final blend on this was 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec. Tel. (707) 965-2898; Fax (707) 965-3010
Bright ruby-red. Highly aromatic nose combines cassis, cherry and violet; very Napa Valley cabernet in its perfumed black fruit character. Then creamy-rich and sweet but vibrant on the palate, with a slightly medicinal quality lifted by notes of rose petal and violet. Finishes focused, firm and long, with suave tannins and lingering fruit.